AUTHORS

1. Ankitha Lahari M N – 4th Year B.A. LL.B.(Hons.) Student at School of Law, Ramaiah University of
Applied sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.

2. Aiswaryya Dhamodaran -IPR LLM ,University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United kingdom.

3. K K Sree Purna – Final Year B.COM LLB (Hons.), Saveetha School of Law, SIMATS, Chennai, Tamil
Nadu, India.

4. Vidhushi Sharma – BBA-LLB Research Scholar, MIET School of Law, Jammu, India.

This research critically examines the pressing need to recognize ecocide – which we define as large-scale, long-term, and serious environmental destruction – as the fifth international crime in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) – which includes genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and aggression. The thesis of this study is motivated by numerous ecological crises – climate change, pollution, deforestation, the extinction crisis – and potential ecological crises that largely escape the reach of international criminal law. Through a doctrinal and comparative legal approach, this paper assesses the historical development, moral underpinnings, and jurisdictional implications of articulating ecocide internationally.

The paper traces the evolution of the concept from outrage about the use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War to current attempts at legal definitions of ecocide proposed by the Independent Expert Panel (2021). This paper seeks to demonstrate that ecocide endangers not only the environment, but human rights, world peace, and intergenerational justice. Legal systems across the world are starting to adapt – for example, in France, Belgium, and the Philippines, various laws relating to ecocide have been proposed or enacted.

Specifically, the case studies and examples, such as the Bhopal gas leak, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the Amazonian clearing, are used to capture how, overall, legal reactions have not been sufficient to respond to catastrophic environmental disasters. Ethically, criminalization of ecocide is warranted by the principles of ecocentrism and intergenerational justice, which provide that nature has an intrinsic value independent of anthropocentrism. Legally, while there are challenges around enforcement, jurisdiction, and corporate liability, the paper argues that there is adequate scope to amend the Rome Statute to include ecocide, as long as Article 30’s “unless otherwise provided” clause is utilized, and by amending mens rea to include elements of recklessness.

Finally, the research provides a policy platform that includes: amending the Rome Statute; enacting domestic legislation that supports the “ecocide” concept; developing corporate accountability mechanisms; and developing restorative justice alongside ecological protection. Recognizing ecocide as an international crime is clearly legally possible; it is also an ethical and ecological imperative, if we are to enjoy environmental sustainability, justice, and accountability for future generations.